Logan's Psychotic Tendencies
"Hey Matt," Jess says into his cell phone. "It's Jess."
"How you doing, man?" Matt asks excitedly.
"I don't have time for that now," Jess retorts getting annoyed. "Can you get Chris to get me that newspaper obsessed guy's contact information?"
"Sure," Matt replies. "Why do you want that, you hate the guy. Well we all hate the guy…"
"No reason," Jess replies evading the question.
"Okay, here it is," Matt says. "He's living in New York, so he must have moved. Here's his secretaries number (212) 222 8407."
"Thanks for that," Jess replies earnestly.
"What's this about?" Chris yells into the phone.
"I'll tell you later," Jess promises and then disconnects the call to phone the secretary.
"How may I help you?" A female's voice asks across the line.
Nice secretary Jess thought. She didn't even announce the business or her boss. She must be very attractive then.
"Is your boss in?" Jess asks evasively.
"No," She replies. "He's out of town."
"Can you tell me where?" Jess asks impatiently. "It's kind of important."
"I can't give out that information," She replies trying to act professional.
Jess sighed, he knew what he had to do and he hated doing it.
"It's Dodger Holden," Jess hisses into the phone.
"Oh, Mr. Holden I'm so sorry," The secretary apologizes. "I didn't know."
"It's quite alright," Jess replies through clenched teeth.
Figures that he'd let my calls go through and not anyone else's, Jess thought to himself.
"He's in Hartford at the Hartford Grand Hotel," She explains. "Should I call ahead and tell him your coming?"
"No," Jess replies quickly. "I want it to be a surprise."
"Okay," She accepts. "Hold on a minute and I'll check exactly where he is."
Jess blocked out the hold music and thought about Rory. He knew he shouldn't have left her, he knew she would jump to the worst conclusion. He just hoped that he could get this over with quickly, so that he could reassure her.
"He's at the bar on Main Street," She explains. "Do you want directions?"
"No," Jess replies hurriedly. "I know where it is, it's not far from here actually. Thanks for your time."
"Anytime Dodger," She replied flirtatiously.
Jess cringed at the way she said his name, but it was a small price to pay to get the information that he got.
He drove hurriedly to the bar and got out quickly. He walked inside and immediately spotted him. He was by himself and seemed to be drowning his sorrows. Jess walked up to him and sat down next to him.
"What he's having," Jess says to the bartender and motions towards the guy.
"Good choice my friend," The guy replies, not seeming as drunk as Jess had expected.
"What brings you to Hartford," Jess asks. "Personal or business?"
"Personal," The guy replies. "I'm here to see my son."
This got Jess angry, but he calmed himself down enough so that he could prolong the conversation.
"So, is he a good kid?" Jess asks.
"I guess," He replies. "I don't know him that well."
"So, you're going to get to know him then?" Jess asks wondering.
"No," The guy replies. "Probably not."
"What?" Jess asks anger rising, but he calmed himself down again. "And what about his mother?"
"What about her?" The guy replies. "All she is to me is the mother of my son."
"Then why are you here?" Jess asks not containing his anger anymore.
"What?" The guy asks confused at Jess' sudden outburst.
"You heard me," Jess replies. "So, your just here to screw up their lives then?"
"Pretty much," The guy replies. "I have to make my presence known somehow."
"You dick," Jess says as he stands up and grabs the guys shirt pulling him up. "I guess once a dick, always a dick."
"Do I know you from somewhere," The guy asks. "You look familiar. What do you do?"
"Nothing," Jess replies. "Except this," Jess says as he sends a right hook at Logan's jaw.
"So, you're a boxer?" The guy asks sarcastically.
Jess sent another right hook at him.
"All right," The bartender says. "Take this outside."
"Outside," The guy says.
"Lead the way," Jess replies as he lets go of the guy's shirt and follows him out.
Jess is blind sighted by the guy's left hook.
"What's all this to you anyway?" The guy asks curiously. "Do you like to get into random bar fights with people?"
"Something like that," Jess answers and he tackles the guy against the wall and punches him in the ribs a couple of times. "You shouldn't treat people the way you do. You hurt her again and again, but this will be the last time."
"Who are you talking about?" The guy asks confused as he gets the upper hand and punches Jess in the ribs a couple of times, returning the favor.
"You sons mother," Jess explains slamming the guy back into the wall. "The one you got pregnant and then left."
"Ah," The guy says in realization. "Those were good times." The guy punches Jess a few more times and Jess can feel his lip split.
"You son of a bitch," Jess retorts, hitting him back. "If you ever come near her or her son again, I'm going to make your life a living hell."
"And how are you going to do that?" The guy asks smugly.
"You know Dodger Holden," Jess says hitting the guy a few more times. "Well, I know him and if you don't stay away I'll make sure that he doesn't write another book and therefore crushing your little business you like to call a hobby."
"How do I know that you're not bluffing?" The guy asks as he punches Jess a couple of more times.
"June three years ago," Jess explains as he cringes. "My daughter was given the chance to meet Dodger Holden and you called her up. You flirted with her trying to get her to give it to you. Your obsession went overboard that day. My girl was only 14 and you scarred her. You told her things that no 14 year old needed to hear. I had to listen to her cry herself to sleep each night because of you. You're just lucky I didn't look for you sooner. Just because she got the chance and you didn't, didn't mean that you could threaten her."
"It was all business," The guy replies.
"Well," Jess continues. "I know Dodger Holden personally and he knows about your little… hobby. You're ripping him off and you think you can get away with it. He'll crush you if I say the word. You won't be able to work in the industry anymore."
"You know what?" The guy replies. "If Dodge Holden doesn't want to publicize himself, let people know who he is, then I'll do it for him."
"You already have," Jess retorts angrily punching him in the face a couple more times. "I know all about you being Mark's manager, the guy you convinced to be Dodger Holden so that you could take all the glory. What's going to happen when the real Dodger Holden comes out?"
"They can't prove it," The guy replies smugly as he punches Jess again.
"Mark can't even read," Jess replies angrily. "So, I'm pretty sure he can't write. It won't be that hard to prove that he's a fraud."
"My scheme just got started," The guy replies. "This is only the beginning."
"You know what?" Jess yells at him. "You're selfish. You're ruining your son's life, you're ruining his mother's life and you're ruining Dodger Holden's life."
"So," The guy replies smugly.
"Stop," Jess yells as he punches the guy hard and he falls to the ground. "Or I'm going to expose you for the fraud that you are."
Jess kicks the guy in the ribs one last time and leaves him lying on the sidewalk.
"Don't interfere in your son's life or his mother's again," Jess threatens. "I don't care about Dodger, you can have him."
Jess left, walks back to his car and drove home. He goes inside and calls out to Holden.
"Yeah," Holden asks coming into the room. "What happened?" Holden asks her dad concerned as she rushes over to him.
"I had to take care of something," Jess replies. "Rory?" He questions his daughter.
"She went home," Holden says sadly and Jess heads for the door. "Dad," Holden says as she grabs his arm and pulls him away from the door.
"What?" Jess asks starting to get annoyed.
"You're dripping blood on the carpet," Holden says as she motions towards the once stainless cream colored carpet.
"Oh," Jess replies shocked.
"I think you should go to a doctor," Holden says concerned.
"No," Jess replies defiantly. "Help me clean up and then I'll drive us down to Stars Hollow, I've got to explain this to Rory. Plus you and LJ can work on that project of yours."
"Okay," Holden relents as she follows her dad into the bathroom.
On the drive to Stars Hollow.
"So, who do I have to thank for your split lip and cut above your eye?" Holden asks her dad as he drives towards Stars Hollow.
"LJ's father," Jess responds. "Logan Huntzberger."
"The guy who's managing the fake Dodger Holden?" Holden asks confused.
"One in the same," Jess replies.
"So, what's he look like?" Holden asks excitedly. "Did you beat the crap out of him?"
"Yeah," Jess replies looking at his daughter. "I gave him what he deserved."
Holden knew Logan as the one who stole her father's identity, but she never knew that Logan was the one that called her up when she was 14. She repressed that memory long ago and never wanted to bring it up again.
"Good," Holden says happily. "I wish you would have let me come and watch, though."
"Next time," Jess promises as they pull up across the street from the diner. "Is she in there?" Jess asks to afraid to look.
"Yeah," Holden replies.
Jess lets out a sigh and gets out of the car, Holden follows quickly.
"Umm, dad," She says stopping him. "Your face, Uncle Luke's gonna freak."
"So," Jess replies as he walks towards the diner. "This is important."
"Your funeral," Holden mumbles. "I'm going to find LJ."
Jess walks into the diner and all eyes are on him, but he only cared for one set of eyes, Yet Rory had her back to him.
"Rory," Jess says still standing in the doorway. "Can I talk to you please?"
"Jess?" Luke questions in horror. "What happened?"
"If I said car accident would you believe me?" Jess asks Luke hopefully.
"No," Luke replies. "It looks like you got in a fight… again."
"What?" Rory asks confused as she turns around and her face falls. "Jess what happened?"
"Umm," Jess falters. "Can we talk somewhere less… open?"
"Okay," Rory says debating whether or not she really wanted to go.
"Sit on that bench over there," Luke warns as Rory stands up. "I want you both out in the open where I can keep an eye on you."
"Yes, Uncle Luke," Jess replies as he holds the door open for Rory.
They walked silently over to the bench, which was in full view of the diner.
"What happened?" Rory asks once they were sitting down. "Why'd you leave, and don't pull any of that old Jess crap, I want to know."
"I wasn't going to," I reply truthfully.
"So, explain then," Rory says trying to hold back her anger.
"When we were back at the house, I was thinking about you," Jess explains truthfully as he stares into Rory's eyes. "Trying to piece it all together and then I remember LJ saying who his father was."
Jess tensed immediately and Rory noticed this.
"What did you do Jess?" Rory asks him nervously.
"Why'd you go back to him Rory?" Jess asks pleading for an answer. "He cheated on you and yet you went back. There were other options. You didn't have to go back."
"I know," Rory replies sadly. "I tried, but I couldn't stay away. But it was worth it…"
"What?" Jess asks getting angry.
"I got LJ," Rory says trying to calm Jess down. "Slow, but smart LJ. He's my world, I can't even imagine life without him."
Jess calmed down immediately.
"Okay," Jess accepts. "So, I made the connection and I was angry. I sought him out and found out that he was in Hartford, at a bar. So, I went and saw him. He had no idea who I was and I guess I went there just to… I don't know get some answers or something, I never wanted to get into a fight with him."
"So, why did you?" Rory asks warily, but encouraging Jess to continue.
"He said that he was in town to see his son," Jess explains carefully. "Yet, he said that he had no idea if his son was a good kid or not. Then he said that you meant nothing to him and the only reason he kept showing up was to make his presence known. He never wanted to get to know LJ. I just guess he doesn't want you to forget him, that's why he keeps coming back."
"I see," Rory says understanding. "But…"
"But what?" Jess asks her quickly.
"I can't see how you got that much information out of him," Rory says surprised. "I would've thought that the first bad thing he said would have set you off."
"I've learnt self-control," Jess explains. "But there's more."
"More?" Rory questions confused.
"Two years ago, when Holden supposedly on that competition to meet Dodger Holden," Jess says cringing at the thought.
"Yeah," Rory says remembering. "She told me about that."
"Well, Logan called up one day when I was out…" Jess was choking on his words, he hated that he wasn't there for Holden that day.
"It's okay," Rory says soothingly as she rubs Jess' back comfortingly.
"The things he said… she was only 14… I would have killed him if I didn't have Holden to look out for," Jess stammered getting angrier by the minute. "She cried herself to sleep for months. We actually moved here because she thought that he might track her down. He threatened he life, Rory."
Jess was on the verge of tears.
"She just got back to normal, after we moved down here," Jess says trying to keep it together. "Now with Logan in Hartford and everything I don't know if I can protect her. I know she'll recognize his voice if she heard it."
"Keep her here then," Rory suggests shocked, trying to take it all in. "The whole town will protect her. But then again Logan might come down here for a little visit."
Jess lets out a little laugh and this shocks Rory.
"He won't come down here," Jess says slightly amused. "I threatened him with something he doesn't want to lose."
"What's that?" Rory asks confused.
"Have you been keeping tabs on Dodger Holden?" Jess asks Rory curiously.
"Yeah," Rory says as she blushes.
"Well, then I guess you've heard that they discovered the real Dodger Holden in New York," Jess says watching her reactions.
"Yeah," Rory replies. "I knew it was a fake. I knew you'd never come forward."
"Well," Jess continues. "Logan got this guy… Mark to be Dodger Holden. Logan's his manager."
"This doesn't bother you?" Rory asks confused. "Someone stealing your identity, your life's work."
"Not really," Jess replies. "I like being anonymous and it would take something big for me to give that up. Mark can't even read let alone write, it's bound to come out sometime and if need be I'll give it a little push. But for now I'm leaving it be, I'd rather let someone else take credit, then be annoyed by strangers every time I go out."
"I guess," Rory agrees. "But Logan…"
"Let him have his fun," Jess says interrupting Rory. "It will all blow up in his face sooner or later."
"But if this gets out of hand are you going to expose yourself?" Rory asks Jess.
"I'm hoping it won't come to that, but if it does I'll stand up and take responsibility," Jess answers.
"Good," Rory replies as she rests her head on Jess' shoulder. "Why's Logan got it in for Dodger anyway?"
"He's obsessed," Jess explains. "It started out small, just trying to figure out who Dodger was. Then as more books came out he caught onto the fact that they were dedicated to the same person, so he spent all his free time and money trying to find out who it was. He kept coming into Truncheon every couple of days, as Truncheon was the only connection to the books and author. So, we were spending the bulk of our time trying to steer him in the wrong direction and making sure he didn't get close to the truth."
"Wow," Rory says shocked. "I've never heard of Logan attached to anything before."
"It gets worse," Jess explains. "When Trials of Dodger Holden came out he flipped out. He broke into Truncheon at three in the morning and tore the store apart looking for a connection. He formed a kind of fatal attraction to the girl in the book… to you. We tried to convince him that it was fiction, but he didn't believe it. We calmed him down enough and he left peacefully. But Logan hired private detectives, sat them out the front of the store for weeks on end. We knew he wouldn't find anything, no one would suspect that the publisher was the author."
"He sounds psychotic," Rory says shocked.
"He needs help," Jess says slightly defending Logan.
"What about LJ and Holden?" Rory asks panicked. "What if he gets obsessed with Holden like he did to me?"
"Ssshhh!" Jess says as he places his arm around Rory. "He doesn't know that it is you and he won't come here. If he does Luke and I will handle him, but he values his reputation over anything else, we'll be fine."
"Okay," Rory replies accepting Jess' answer. "So, does that mean you and Holden are going to be staying here?" Rory asks hopefully.
"It's probably for the best," Jess replies happily. "We could ask Luke if we could stay above the diner."
"No," Rory practically yells. "Stay with me, I don't want to be alone."
"Okay," Jess relents. "I'll stay with you."
"So, are you going back to Hartford?" Rory asks.
"No," Jess replies. "Logan's still there and I have to keep Holden away from him. I can't risk those memories resurfacing."
"Okay," Rory replies. "So, where's Holden."
"With LJ, I guess," Jess answers. "Where does LJ like to hang out?"
"One guess," Rory says happily.
"The bridge," They say together.
They walk to the bridge hand in hand.
"So, how's your face?" Rory asks concerned.
"Its fine," Jess replies smiling at Rory. "Totally worth it, you should see the other guy."
"I don't think I want to," Rory replies shuddering at the thought.
"Sorry," Jess apologizes. "Look," He says to Rory as they stop ten or so meters from the bridge. "I think we lost our bridge."
"Never," Rory replies mischievously. "Let's push them in."
Jess looks at Rory skeptically. Old Rory would never do this and new Rory wouldn't push her son in the lake, but she looked so excited Jess couldn't deny her.
"Okay," Jess says quietly as they walk up on the unsuspecting teens and push them in the water.
There was two shrieks of surprise, a girly one and… well two girly ones. Jess and Rory immediately sit down in Holden and LJ's spot.
"What was that?" Holden asks her dad pissed.
"Yeah," LJ replies obviously confused, looking around. There was a chance he didn't even know that he was in the water, yet.
"You scream like a girl," Jess laughs at LJ.
"Shut up," LJ retorts.
"Yeah, Jess," Rory says as she hits Jess. "Don't tease Lucas."
"You're the one that decided to push them in the lake," Jess defends.
"I'm all wet," Holden says annoyed as she pulls herself onto the bridge.
LJ clears his throat and sticks his hand out for Holden to help him up on the bridge. Holden sighs but reaches out and helps him back onto the bridge. Everyone looks at him wide eyed.
"What?" LJ defends. "Gilmore's don't exercise."
"So, it's not just the Gilmore girls," Jess asks amused.
"He hates sports," Rory replies. "He won't even watch them with Luke."
"Umm," Holden interrupts. "I'm still wet."
"Oh yeah," Jess says in realization. "We're staying in the Hollow for a while."
"What?" Holden asks confused. "Why?"
"No reason," Jess replies skillfully.
"But I have no clothes," Holden says annoyed.
"You can borrow some of Rory's," Jess replies. "Or maybe Lorelai's, she's more you."
"Fine," Holden huffs as she turns to walk away. "Where are we staying?"
"Our house," Rory replies.
"I'm stopping at Lorelai's on the way," Holden replies as she walks away from the bridge.
"Cool," LJ replies. "A slumber party. Hey, Holden wait up," LJ says as he rushes off the bridge.
"Slumber party," Jess scoffs at LJ's choice of words. "Are you sure he's not a Gilmore girl?" Jess asks Rory.
"We all are Gilmore girls deep down," Rory replies. "And stop teasing him."
"But he makes it so easy," Jess whines. "Are you sure he's not gay."
"Jess," Rory warns. "If you don't stop then you're going in the lake and then you will have to wear one of Luke's flannels."
"Okay, okay," Jess gives in. "I'll be good. Ready for the slumber party?" Jess asks in mock excitement.
"Jess," Rory warns as she pushes him in the lake.
"Hey," Jess says as he resurfaces. "I don't have a change of clothes."
"Not my problem," Rory replies as she leaves Jess in the water and walks back home.
"Wait," Jess calls to Rory. "I don't know where you live?"
"You should've thought of that beforehand," Rory replies trying not to laugh.
"Damn," Jess mutters as he pulls himself out of the water and runs after Rory. "Come on Rory," Jess pleads. "I promise to be good."
